Movies
A pretty simplistic and basic romcom, sporting some big names who do little else beyond going through the motions. Reitman manages to keep things light though and while the plot is as predictable as can be, there are one or two memorable scenes that make this film somewhat bearable. Frank and Robin are on a romantic vacation, when Robin suddenly has to return home for work. She hires Quinn to fly her back, but their plane crashes on a deserted island. They'll have to figure a way to get off the island, in the meantime Frank is getting pretty cozy with Quinn's friend Angelica. The cast does a decent job and the exotic setting no doubt adds to the appeal. The plot is complete nonsense though (there are even pirates) and the comedy is rather weak and uninspired, but everything said and done it's still a relatively entertaining film, as long as you keep your expectations low.Read all
A rudimentary comedy that doesn't get far beyond the obvious differences in physique. Both Schwarzenegger and DeVito fail to impress, Reitman's direction is pretty lazy and the crime plot that develops alongside the comedy isn't very interesting. It's an okay film as long as you don't expect too much of it, but it hasn't aged that well.
Poor Schwarzenegger. This brawny, burly man was cast against his type to play a kindergarten teacher for comedy purposes. And the result turned out to be predictably dire. Reitman isn't a very good director, Schwarzenegger isn't funny at all and even the action was pretty bland. Kimble is a tough and hardened city cop. During an undercover mission, his partner falls ill and he has to take over her part of the deal: go undercover in a small-town school and be on the lookout for the family of a criminal. He isn't really fit to deal with kids, but the mission is important, so he's willing to give it a go. The comedy is slim, apart from the obvious mismatch there's not much to laugh at. The kids are pretty annoying too, the criminal elements are underdeveloped and the direction is bland. Like most blockbusters, the pacing is decent, but you've got to wonder how this was ever a popular film.Read all
An army comedy, in the broadest sense of the word. It's clear that Stripes was meant to be funny, it certainly tries very hard, but I didn't crack a smile once. There's something extremely unpleasant about this film, which isn't even that uncommon for an 80s comedy. It's not that they are particularly mean-spirited (because I'd love that), they're just irritating. John has no idea what to do with his life. He can't hold a job, his girlfriend is tired of him loafing around and his best friend is unable to motivate him. And so the two join the army, hoping they might find something there. John doesn't really fit the strict regime, but the camaraderie does slowly grow on him. Murray is terrible, but so is the rest of the cast. The jokes are very predictable and consistently unfunny, the army setting is a complete bore and with more than two hours on the clock, the film outstays its welcome. Dedicated Murray/Reitman fans should probably give it a go, other than that I find this very hard to recommend.Read all